Make No Mistake, He's Mine
by delenadreamer
Summary: "To this day, she still believes that Tyler hung the stars and the moon just for her." AU/AH.


_**I'll find you in the morning sun  
**__**and when the night is new  
**__**I'll be looking at the moon  
**__**but I'll be seeing you**_

* * *

She is his, and he is hers.

It's as simple and as complicated as that.

…

Tyler buried his face in his hands, shaking his head vehemently. "Caroline, I already told you – I am not watching _The Notebook._ And, you've already seen it, so you know what happens in the end. Hell, I haven't seen it and even I know what happens. Boy meets girl, girl meets boy, they fall in love, they break up but then end up together, the end. Can we watch something with an actual plot, please?"

She folds her arms across her chest defiantly, all but growling at him. "First of all – if you haven't seen it, you legally have no right to insult it. Second of all, this is the greatest love story of _our time_."

"My mom cried herself to sleep when she watched it," he deadpanned. "For two days, she played that stupid Billie Holiday song."

Momentarily distracted by the phone ringing, she finally relented. "Okay fine, if you're gonna throw a hissy fit; you can pick the movie – but no porn!"

It couldn't have been more than a minute between arguing about what movie to watch to the moment where her world stopped spinning. Within seconds, her mind had become a massive blur and she couldn't focus on anything the person on the phone was saying to her. Her vision became blurry, her breath caught in her throat and she feel her legs – not even when she fell to the floor.

He was at her side instantly, cradling her face in his hands. He took the phone from her numb hands, his face falling almost as quickly as hers had, and the realization hit him like a ton of bricks. Quietly hanging up the phone, he wrapped his arms around her shaking frame and held close, kissing her hair and telling her that it's all gonna be okay.

He didn't leave her side – not for a second.

When she fell apart during her speech, he finished saying it for her. He held her hand as they lowered her mother's coffin into the ground, squeezing her hand when she placed the final rose on her grace.

Days pass and people had come and gone to pay their respects. Sherriff Elizabeth Forbes was a woman that protected her town to a fault – but there wasn't one person that failed to mention how much she loved her daughter.

She fell asleep in his arms.

…

Weeks go by like days – but then one day, she smiles.

She smiles and he wants to cry because he's missed his best friend so much.

He doesn't want to jinx it, so he doesn't say anything, but they both know that she's on the road to recovery.

But he's never been prouder to call her his best friend.

…

Caroline doesn't know when it happened or how it happened – but she finds herself falling in love with him.

All her closest friends encouraged her to tell him, hoping that their relationship could go to the next plateau. But then he introduced his closest friends to his new girlfriend – and it wasn't Caroline.

"Why didn't he pick me? Why doesn't he want me like I want him – or love me like I love him?" she asked her best friends. They couldn't give her an answer.

Despite these questions that she asked herself, when she was faced with Tyler and Sophie, she smiled and told him that she was really happy for him. She remained the best friend. She laughed with him, even if it was about something stupid that Sophie did. She shopped with him, even if it was for Sophie's birthday present. And when the bakery screwed up the cake that he ordered for Sophie, she stayed up the whole night making one from scratch.

"Thank you so much," he tells her at Sophie's surprise party. "You're an amazing friend."

…

One day, she decides that she can't take it anymore. She can't stand next to him without wanting to hold him. She couldn't look into his eyes without her heart breaking. She couldn't hug him without ever wanting to let go. She could barely talk to him without telling him just how much he means to her – how much she loves him.

But the day she finds the courage to admit she loves him, is the day that Tyler and Sophie announce their engagement.

If she thought pretending not to love him was hard – well, this was absolutely excruciating.

But she did it.

She smiled and congratulated both of them. She even threw them an engagement party, greeting the guests with a smile and toasting the upcoming nuptials in front of everyone.

When Sophie asked her to be her maid of honor, she smiled – and when Tyler thanked her for always being there for him, she almost cried.

For the next six months, she stayed afloat her sea of self-pity as she helped Sophie plan their wedding to the very last detail.

When the big day came, she watched his face light up as Sophie walked down the aisle. She stood behind Sophie with a smile on her face and watched with a heavy heart as the man she loved promised himself to another woman.

While everyone cheered – Caroline cried.

…

Married life isn't all smooth sailing and one day, Sophie's jealousy gets the best of her. "I see the way you look at him – at Tyler. You like him."

Caroline smiles sadly. "I've been going through a rough time – something I can't really talk about but Tyler's been helping me through it. He's been there for me more than anyone has been my entire life and there was a time that I did fall for him. I don't know how anyone wouldn't because he's pretty incredible but he loves you, and he needs you and he deserves someone like you. Sophie, trust me when I tell you have nothing to worry about."

…

Eventually, she became Caroline Donavon.

…

They remained the best of friends as time went on.

They were always there for one another – just like they promised.

He picked her up the night of her bachelorette party when she got too tipsy, and she answered the 3am phone call when he phoned her, freaking out to tell her that he was going to be a father. Careful not to wake up Matt, she laughed quietly to herself and told him that he would be a wonderful father.

He was proven right when nine months later, he held his son for the very first time.

With teary eyes and an awed smile, she was asked to be Michael's godmother, and then again for his daughter Candice when she was born four years later.

She was the best friend that anyone could ever ask for.

…

"I can't accept that you're leaving me," she murmurs into their joined hands. He was on his deathbed now, the cancer having spread from his stomach to his lungs.

"Caroline – don't you understand? I could never leave you. You're my best friend."

The tears are falling down her cheeks as she smiles at him – her heart aching at the way he smiles back. Their eyes lock as she whispers, "and you're mine."

"I love you, you know that?" he asks, cracking a smile.

"I love you too."

His eyes flutter to a close. "I'm so tired."

She pushes his hair back and kisses his forehead. "Go to sleep, my love. I'll be seeing you."

And then he's gone.

…

She's given a large envelope, her name written in messy scrawl across the front. "The last thing he said to me before he died was to check the bottom drawer of his dresser. Those were the last words that he said to me, and it was some crap about furniture," Sophie chuckled lightly to herself. "There was one for me, Michael and Candice and then this one is for you."

…

It was a letter from Tyler, dated a week before he died.

_Dear Caroline,_

_There are so many things that I want to say to you – that I've wanted to say to you, but the circumstances were bad or the timing was off or some other stupid excuse that I hid behind because I was scared. But I can't die peacefully without knowing the truth. I can't leave you until you know how much you've changed me – how much better I am for having known you._

_If there is ever a time or a place or a moment where you want to give up or you think the world has finally beaten you down, please try to see yourself through my eyes because when you do, you'll see what I've seen all along – a woman that is so strong, gentle, kind, inspiring, loving and just so beautiful – a woman that is everything I've ever wanted in all my life._

_The truth is, I often find myself wondering late at night how things might have been different if you and I ended up together. With that being said, please know that I am forever changed because of who you are and what you've meant to me._

_Goodbye, my dear._  
_I love you._

_I'll be seeing you._

_Love Always,_  
_Tyler_ _Lockwood._  
_..._

Years pass, and no matter where life takes her - she always comes back for him.

To this day, she still believes that Tyler has hung the stars and the moon just for her.

Even in death, she is his and he is hers.

It's as simple and as complicated as that.

...

_**please leave a review.**_


End file.
